Excuse me there are crumbs on board this trip

Amsterdam

You had me

At Central Station.

Bike through the city

A city made for bicycle destinations

Jewish Quarters

And house loads

Visting Anne Frank.

Tulips as tchotchkes

Cheese and beers on tap

Dope smoke in clouds

Avoided inhalation.

A gig in a bar

Anti Semitism and sexism

Travel through comedy rooms

Near and far.

Amsterdam to Krakow

A festival of Jews

Despite and inspite of history.

Gig in a bar

Laughter

All the way to the punchline.

Auschwitz and Birkenau

9,000 visitors every day

No words to describe.

Make Humus not War

Said a café to the diner

Drink beer and some more

Said the diner to the cafe.

Krakow to Tel Aviv

A quick stop in Heathrow

Daughter and sister 

Swing by just to say hello.

Tel Aviv 

Hotel a YMCA 

Built by a Mench.

Walk to the Old Town

Leading all the way to the wall

We weep and we wail

And then we weep even more.

For the past is always there

Israel in a state

78 years young

Ancient in its repose.

A family tree connects

Post war Jews in Jerusalem

Cousins connect at dinner

Eat, smile, then weep
For what could have been.

Masada the house that Herod Built

A cliff top retreat

Resplendent in its power

Defenceless in its splendour.

The Dead Sea 

Is dying

The splash of death crashes to the shore

Another gig in bar

Not many giggles to be had

Maybe next year in Jerusalem
The jokes will take flight.

More cousins and an aunt
A fleeting moment in Jerusalem 

A life time in the heart.

For Israel to exist

There is pain 

Despite the fact that

Yad Vashem screams

Never, ever, ever again.